Encouraging news out of Banff these days where efforts are underway to restore natural cutthroat trout habitat. Hidden Lake had a vibrant cutthroat population until sometime in the 1960’s when a brook trout showed up. We all know what happens then. The brookies take over and the natural trout populations decline.

It is encouraging that Parks Canada is taking this step as in the past they have communicated that they would not be managing the fishery in the parks. The quote out of Banff now is “Parks Canada’s mandate is to conserve and restore westslope cutthroat trout in the park, and part of the restoration effort is to make sure the fish we do try to restore are the westslope cutthroat trout we know are native to the province.”

If you are interested in reading more see the Calgary Herald article here and here.